About Youssou N'Dour
Youssou "Madjiguène" N'Dour (also Ndour, French: [jusu (ɛ)nduʁ]; Wolof: Yuusu "Maajigéen" Nduur [juːsu ⁿd̺uːɾ]; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and politician. N'Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegambian music known as mbalax, a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism. Rolling Stone described him in 2004 as "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa, and ranked him in 2023 at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. N'Dour is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Gorée (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. In 2006, N'Dour portrayed Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace. In 2011, N'Dour was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in music from Yale University. By 1991, he had opened his own recording studio, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi. His mix of traditional Senegalese "mbalax" with eclectic influences, ranging from Cuban rumba to jazz, soul and hip hop, has won him an international fan base of millions. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD Egypt in 2005.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.